Some Fun Updates

I haven't blogged in a while, so let me give some updates...
Friday: We started working on our back yard. First, we had dirt hauled in and Jim's dad hired two homeless men from the Salvation Army to help us get it into the back yard and spread out. What a wonderful investment! Not only were Clifford & Julio great workers, but the money really helped them out. Our five pallets of grass arrived late in the afternoon and sat in the driveway until Saturday. Friday evening, Jim's parents invited Elijah & Rebekah to spend the night. Jim and I seized the opportunity and made it a date night. Dinner and a rented movie. Aaahhh, and the movie didn't have any cartoon characters! Woo-hoo! Micah slept through most of the evening's events, which was an extra bonus.
Saturday: John, Clifford and Julio arrived around 9:30 or so and we all started moving the grass to the back yard and putting it in place. I had laid out hoses to mark the landscaping beds that will come later and we started laying the sod. Mom and Dad drove down to help with the task also. It went SO fast. The sod was laid by 11:30! We sent the guys to get free compost from the Round Rock recycling Center and after it was shoveled into the landscaping beds, it was time for lunch. After lunch and a shower for Clifford, the task was pretty much done. The Hasse's headed off to a movie, Jim's took the guys back downtown and my parents hung out with us for a little while.
Dad and Jim put new door handles on the kids bedroom doors so they can easily escape their rooms. Rebekah found her way to our room the other night soaked in tears and snot. Apparently her door had shut all the way and she spent quite some time and tears trying to get the door open. We had a loud fan running in our room, so we didn't hear her. Poor thing. She was traumatized and last night was the first time she was willing to sleep in her room since Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. Oh, we just felt awful! So, we replaced the knobs with handles that she can easily maneveur.
Sunday: We all ate breakfast together at the table. It was lovely!
We usually eat in the car on the way to church. The kids did well at church. Elijah went to children's church and Rebekah sat through the sermon fairly well. She's getting better at sitting there. Micah slept through most of it. Afterwards we went to Jim's parent's for him to work on their computers a little bit. After some visiting, we headed home for a short nap and then back to church for the evening service.
We haven't been to Sunday night service in ages. It was quite nice and of course, convicting. We do love our little church full of friends who deeply love our Lord and the pure gospel-so refreshing each time we meet! We're also trying to train our children to sit through a service without disrupting everyone. It's a chore, but well worth it I know.
Afterwards we headed to EZ's for supper. I snapped a little picture of my crew at the restaurant.
Monday: Today has been full of chores and paperwork for me. I'm trying to sort through all of our medical bills and insurance. We have bills for each of us except for Rebekah! Labor and delivery for Lori, birth and check-ups for Micah, Seizure stuff for Elijah, and Colitis stuff for Jim. I'm pretty sure we've hit family deductible for the year. If there's anything else we need to get checked, this is the year for it! The Lord has been gracious to provide the finances and sanity to deal with each situation as it has arrived. We are Grateful!
Well, that's it for now. Blessings to each of you!